A trail of red footprints designed to guide children safely to school is a toe-tal liberty, say angry residents.

The footprints, painted along the pavement beside Bradford Road in Otley this week, are meant to steer Westgate Primary School pupils towards a pelican crossing that has been installed near the junction with Scarborough Road.

But some residents, already unhappy at what they claim was a lack of consultation, say the move is proof the crossing has been put in the wrong place.

Stephanie Luxton, who has lived near the school in Scarborough Road for years, said residents wanted to work with Westgate Primary to find a better solution.

She said: "This is the straw that broke the camel's back. We've had a pelican crossing put in before any of the residents were informed, there was no consultation.

"The crossing has been put in the wrong place and the school has a terrible job of trying to get children to walk hundreds and hundreds of yards further from where they normally cross to use it.

"Now workmen have been out to put in red footprints' on the pavement, all the way along Bradford Road, to guide them up to the crossing. We just can't believe it.

"We thought it would go in much further down towards the town, near the billboards, where most children and parents are still crossing.

"Putting these footprints in surely proves it's been put in the wrong place. We believe the school is continually having to send notes out to parents asking them to have their children walk much further up to use it.

"I've got four grandchildren and I'm very sympathetic to road safety but there's been a massive blunder here."

The installation of the crossing in October, following a long campaign driven by school governor Kevin Cooney, was widely hailed as a victory for road safety.

Westgate head teacher Rhona Bignell is convinced it is helping. She said: "It's a very busy road and lots of our families come from the Waitrose end of Bradford Road, so the footsteps are to guide the children and get them into the habit of using the crossing so everybody's safe.

"We wanted to do something that was fun to do and we spoke to the roads planning adviser and they said it was okay. The children are having fun using the footprints and they are guiding them and parents to the crossing, so it's a safety measure.

"We certainly didn't want to upset anybody. There was only one place the crossing could go on that road, any other position would have put it on a bend or close to one.

"We had a couple of children involved in a near miss in Bradford Road last year, neither was injured but that was due to good fortune more than anything else.

"As a school we're delighted this crossing is here."

A Leeds City Council spokesman said: "We consulted all residents directly affected by the crossing by letter in June and have taken their views into account.

"The pedestrian crossing has been located at the point where it is most needed as determined by pedestrian and vehicle volume surveys, also where visibility is good for safe crossing."

  • Start or join a debate on this issue in our online forum - Click here